David Raya: The making of a modern goalkeeper

There can’t be many players out there with a more eclectic footballing education than David Raya.

Barcelona-born, David moved to Blackburn aged just 16, and was then sent on loan to non-league Southport for his first ever taste of professional football. After three productive months in the National League, he returned to Rovers and broke into their team in the Championship, then League One – experiencing both the heartache of relegation and euphoria of promotion before moving to Brentford.

He enjoyed promotion with the Bees too – this time to the Premier League. After four seasons with Brentford he joined us in 2023, and within a couple of months was playing Champions League football.

So over the past decade, David has gone from non-league to the top table of European football, and he has adjusted his game accordingly, depending on the style of play his team demanded.

Now aged 29, David is a true product of his multi-faceted education. It all began, he says, when he made the decision to leave Spain at the age of 16.

“The biggest lessons I learned early in my career were all to do with living away from my family and friends, for sure,” he says. “I was 16 at the time, and the learnings I took then made me mature and grow up a bit quicker maybe than other boys my age.

“Also I learned early not to take anything for granted. I learned to work hard, and tried to become the best I could be.

“I was living by myself when I was 16, so I had to learn a lot of things quickly. I left everything behind, but I knew what I wanted to achieve, what I wanted to do. That was very important. My family were always around though, and my friends.

"My mum and dad used to come every month, especially in those first couple of years. They knew it was really important for me not to get homesick or miss them too much.”

Then soon after moving to England to sign for Blackburn, he was on the move again, 30 miles west to Southport, to learn about life in the lower leagues, but also to become more independent.

“Yes, the other big one for me in terms of learning was my loan at Southport,” David says. “That made me realise how the lower leagues work. I was at Blackburn, used to having everything done for me as a young player, then you go down the leagues and you realise you have to do everything for yourself.

“It opens your eyes. You see that people are working in jobs and playing football at the same time. In the academy at Blackburn I was used to turning up every day, having breakfast and everything is done for you. But at Southport it was completely different – you take yourself to training, take your clothes home to wash them, you are responsible for what you eat and everything. I learned a lot from that spell.”

"I was living by myself when I was 16, so I had to learn a lot of things quickly. I left everything behind"

But it’s a sign of David’s early maturity that he chose to take himself out of his comfort zone and learn about the rigours of senior football. It was his decision to move down in the hope of getting some playing time.

“I told the gaffer, and I told the goalie coach, that under-21s football was not enough for me at that time,” he recalls. “I wanted to go on loan to challenge myself, get that experience of playing against proper men. In the under-21s there was no pressure, no fans really, but when you go out on loan – especially in the National League – the players are really fighting and desperate for three points. It makes a big difference to their pay, to help pay the mortgage. There are a lot players who were working as well as playing.

“When we were playing away on the Tuesday, getting home at about 4am, they would be waking up at six or seven to go to work. So that was a real learning curve for me, especially at such a young age.”

He made his professional debut at Southport, and went on to play 19 times at the start of that 2014/15 season. After an admittedly shaky start, conceding nine times in his first four games, he soon began to show his potential, and kept clean sheets in four of his next six outings, helping them climb up the table, and reach the third round of the FA Cup in the process – all while still a teenager.

“I was playing regularly at Southport – Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday for three months. We had a great cup run as well; we got to the third round of the FA Cup and played Derby County away. We lost 1-0, to a penalty in the last minute.

"But those three months led to my debut at Blackburn and that got me a starting position for the first team the following season. So those months were so important in my career – I learned a lot and matured so much.

“I became close with a few players there. I knew how important it was for them to stay in the league. When I got there we were in the relegation zone, and just trying to get up the league. I made friends there who helped me to integrate, but it wasn’t easy for the first few games. I arrived on the Saturday, was chucked into the dressing room, got changed and played the game! We got beaten 1-0, and the next games were similar, but then you get used to it, get to know your teammates and then it becomes easier.

“I knew it was going to be hard,” he adds, “but then I found my feet after two or three games and was able to show what kind of goalie I was, even if I was very young for that league. I think I was able to make an impact at the club in that season, and in the end they stayed up, avoided relegation which was very important for the club.

“The loan was going to be for a month, but they wanted me to stay longer. After the three months I wanted to stay longer, but Blackburn wanted me to come back for the rest of the season. So I got that experience too. I made my debut for Blackburn in the Championship, then played in the last game of the season, and the following season I stayed as number one.”

On the pitch as well, his game developed at a rapid pace during his loan spell, and he was learning different aspects of goalkeeping to what he had known before.

Southport were hardly playing out from the back in the lower echelons of the National League, so how did training differ back then to what he would become accustomed to later?

“I would train with Southport on Mondays and Thursdays to work on the game plans, and the rest of the time with Blackburn, so it was completely different,” he says. “We used to train at the university, sometimes on astroturf, sometimes grass, so it was completely different to now. The games were very different too - I was getting battered a lot! Every corner, every free-kick I was getting elbows everywhere!”

"I’ve worked on being an all-rounder. That’s how football is going, especially in the goalkeeper position"

David’s varied and complete education has resulted in him becoming a very rounded goalkeeper, one who’s equally at home whether he’s drawing the press with the ball at his feet, claiming crosses in a congested penalty area or making stunning reaction saves. So was his time at Southport responsible for his exceptional record of collecting crosses?

“Well yes, but actually I think I made a massive step at Brentford in terms of coming for crosses and that aspect of the game,” he reveals. “It’s really, really important in the modern game, if you can dominate the air, then that part of the opponent’s attack is done and you have won the ball back quickly.

“Inaki was one of the reasons behind that,” David says, referring to his goalkeeping coach at Brentford and now Arsenal, Inaki Cana. “I was more of a reactive goalkeeper before, but now I see the difference between being reactive – when you wait to make the save – or proactive – when you can stop the attacks happening. You do that either by being high up, or coming off your line for crosses, not trying to stay on your line and make wondersaves.”

The demands and expectations from goalkeepers has changed over the past few years, says David, and he has changed a lot too.

“Yes, football evolves a lot,” says our goalie, who has earned 11 caps for Spain since making his international debut in 2022. “Back then in the Conference, there is not much football played there. It was more long ball, more chaos. But then when I signed for Brentford and now Arsenal, it’s about playing out from the back so it’s completely different. You can see the difference. It was 10 years ago when I went on loan, and football has evolved massively in that time.

“I’ve worked on being an all-rounder. That’s how football is going, especially in the goalkeeper position. It’s really important to be able to cover every area. You have to work on everything, and be the best you can be at every aspect.”

So what’s the next evolution for David, who has never stopped progressing since moving to England back in 2012? Could he see himself becoming a coach one day, and passing on his knowledge to the next generation?

“Well, I don’t like to close doors, so I’m doing my coaching badges,” he says “I did my UEFA B last season here at the club. Now I want to start the goalie UEFA B course this month and take it from there.

“I think I would like to be either a specialised goalie coach or a regular coach at some point in the future. I enjoyed the course, and I want to stay in something related to football, so let’s see what happens. Last year I took a lot of positive things from doing the courses, in terms of knowing how much work the staff do here to prepare for the training sessions.

“Each session is a lot of work, so imagining that over a year showed me how much work they all do. I don’t take it for granted, and it makes me more determined to learn from every single session and improve every day because a lot of people put a lot into it.”